Kenyon Wallace and Global Regina (National Post) – Saskatchewan RCMP say they may have made a mistake by failing to respond to a 911 call from a group of people stranded in a car in the northern part of the province for seven days — a failure that may have led to the death of an 18-year-old woman who went looking for help when police didn’t arrive.
Kerri Canepotatoe died of exposure after walking 60 kilometres through snow and mud when the car she was driving with her step-sister, Melissa Rabbitskin, and her two young boys, got stuck in the mud April 8 on a logging road between Prince Albert and Loon Lake, about three hours north of Saskatoon.
Cellphone reception in the area is patchy and Ms. Rabbitskin attempted to make three 911 calls. One made it through and she was connected to a dispatcher in Prince Albert who rerouted her to an RCMP call centre.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Chief Superintendent Randy Beck said the call came in as a request for a tow truck.
“The bottom line was that a call for assistance [came in] but assistance wasn’t given,” he said. “If we didn’t follow up to satisfaction, we made a mistake.”
Chief Supt. Beck said the dispatcher did call a tow truck to help the stranded travellers, but for reasons yet to be determined, the truck never arrived. A police officer was not dispatched. It would take seven days before Ms. Rabbitskin and her two boys, who drank water from a nearby slough to survive, were rescued.
The incident is now the subject of an internal RCMP investigation, with supervision by an independent observer who reports to the province’s deputy minister of justice.
Ms. Canepotatoe’s body was found April 12 on the side of a highway 60 kilometres from the vehicle. Investigators suspect she collapsed from exhaustion and died of exposure.
On April 15, police learned that Ms. Canepotatoe had been travelling with three others and immediately launched an air and ground search. The car was eventually spotted from the air, but the three trapped family members had to wait another two hours before rescuers on all-terrain vehicles could reach them due to the remote topography.
Moise Rabbitskin, Ms. Rabbitskin’s uncle, said if it wasn’t for Ms. Canepotatoe’s expedition in search of help, the others would not have been found.
“This girl that passed away, she’s a hero,” he said.
Big River First Nation Chief Bruce Morin called the incident a “terrible tragedy.”
“We’re in bush country,” he said. “Everybody did the best they could. We have RCMP living in our community and they put in long hours. The family is grateful.”
A funeral was held for Ms. Canepotatoe yesterday at the Ministikwan First Nation, near Loon Lake.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Correction, Public Safety and Policing operates the 911 system through a series of call centres across the province. When a call comes in, operators decide which responder — fire, police or ambulance — is best suited to handle the emergency.
“In this case, the information would have been passed on to the RCMP dispatcher, who then would have determined what to do,” said Judy Orthner, a ministry spokeswoman.
Chief Supt. Beck said the dispatcher who handled Ms. Rabbitskin’s call is still on the job, and assured the public that the force’s dispatch system works.
“But I acknowledge that in this instance, there appears to be a departure from regular procedures in handling of a call for assistance,” he said. “That is why I have asked for an independent review.”
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